The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Anemone, botanically known as Anemone hupehensis and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Pretty Lady Maria’.
The new Anemone plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Niigata, Japan. The objective of the breeding program is to create new uniform and freely-flowering Anemone plants with large flowers and attractive flower color.
The new Anemone plant originated from a cross-pollination in Niigata, Japan of Anemone hupehensis ‘Alba’, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with an unnamed proprietary selection of Anemone hupehensis, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Anemone plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Niigata, Japan in August, 2009.
Asexual reproduction of the new Anemone by root cuttings in a controlled environment in Niigata since October, 2009 has shown that the unique features of this new Anemone are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.